


That One Asshole With White Hair

by TallowCat



Series: Self-disGAYvery [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Sort of????, how the frickity do i rate, there be swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 08:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7308433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TallowCat/pseuds/TallowCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brand's journey of self-disGAYvery</p><p>Brand being a little gay and Joshua being an ass</p>
            </blockquote>





	That One Asshole With White Hair

 

Brand really wasn’t sure what drew him to Joshua.

To be completely fair Joshua was a pretty interesting guy, though he wasn’t always the nicest. Not long after he’d moved to Nerne, everyone had noticed when two white haired travellers had settled in their little town, Joshua had gotten the reputation of being… well, an asshole.

 

He was snappy and ill tempered, giving anyone and everyone the cold shoulder.

Despite having the look of a prince – that’s how some girls had described him – Joshua really, really didn’t act like a fairytale.

If anything he was nothing more then a harsh truth.

 

And Brand would have probably followed them along in that thought. For the first month or so he’d really only heard stories of Joshua’s asshole-ish behavior, as it seemed the newcomer preferred his own company hidden away in his study rather than anywhere else.

He never met him until late into the first year of them staying there.

 

It’d been a normal day. Tending to chores – cleaning, cooking, sorting – and ending the day watching the sheep. Of course the bratty idiots from the farm over had decided to jump the fence and harass the sheep, because that was oh so funny.

Of course they were bigger then Brand was at the time, so he’d stood no chance when he’d tried to tell them to ~~fuck off~~ leave.

One had grabbed him by the collar but quickly let go when hit over the head by that damn wooden staff that Joshua carried everywhere.

 

It wasn’t really a fight after that.

Joshua may have been tall and thin but he could hit hard enough and hell that staff really hurt. The teens had scampered off after it became painfully obvious that Joshua was not going to back down, and no one – at the time – wanted to be seen associating with Joshua, no matter the situation.

 

Brand hadn’t been sure what to think, because it was rare to see Joshua out and about and even rarer to see him do something to help another person, so he’d just sat there start struck.

When Joshua began to walk away Brand had scrambled to his feet and called out.

 

“Hey, um, Joshua, right?”

“Hm, what do you want?”

 

Yikes, just as cold as all the stories he’d heard. Joshua was sharp and cold, getting right to the point with no hesitation.

 

“Um, I just, uh, wanted to say that… uh… I mean, thanks, for, you know, helping me.”

Brand was genuinely confused when it came to communicating with Joshua, the other seemed polite enough, not cutting him off and all, but he had that terrible air of intimidation.

“Mm, you’re welcome.”

 

And once more Joshua turned and left.

 

“Uh, I’m Brand by the way!”

   He called, hoping that maybe Joshua would hear.

 

It’d barely been a full conversation and he already felt some weird sort of connection to the other. He wasn’t sure why but he really, really wanted to know more about Joshua, despite how much of an asshole he came off as.

It only struck him later that night, whilst listening to his mother babble on about something, that Joshua had actually made an effort to speak to him.

 

\--

 

People did continue their chatter though. Joshua still acted like an ass to basically everyone so there was no stopping it.

But he did seem to be a bit more polite to Brand, whenever they happened to see each other.

 

It took quite a few tries but eventually Joshua was at least greeting him back, a small mumble, hum or nod.

He at least remembered Brand’s name when they’d last spoken.

 

“Why do you keep following me, Brand.”

Ouch, hardly a question and more so a harsh statement.

“Well, um, I want to know you.”

And that air of pure intimidation came back when Joshua squinted at him in question.

“You already know who I am.”

“No, I mean, like, I want to be your um…friend?”

 

Joshua had pulled back, looking genuinely surprised.

   “I don’t want friends, leave me alone Brand.”

With a growl, one Brand could tell was halfhearted compared to what was normally the case, Joshua slunk passed him.

 

“At least he remembered my name.”

Brand tried to be optimistic.

 

\--

 

Brand couldn’t say he had a whole lot of friends, a few people he knew, but he knew he was slowly losing them from his attempts to befriend Joshua. People didn’t like him and apparently Brand simply wanting to know the other made him just as bad.

Sure people didn’t say it to his face but he could hear the whispered gossip and knew the rumors.

 

Really, it didn’t bother him. He had his family and the sheep. And for Brand that was good enough. And it seemed, very slowly and carefully, Joshua was willing to let him close.

Sometimes they could actually have conversations, rather than the simple mumbles or hisses he was used to before.

 

\--

 

Brand wasn’t really sure when his other friends left him and Joshua stepped in their place. It had been quite a mix of emotions really. He was upset and angry, but happy in some ways.

Joshua had somehow become a friend and he still wasn’t sure when he’d gotten to the stage of being someone Joshua genuinely seemed to like, even his caretaker seemed to envy Brand a little from how close they were.

 

Out of anyone Brand was the one allowed to slip into the study and simply fiddle around with things whilst Joshua studied whatever it was he did. Brand didn’t really want to ask, it was bound to be complicated.

   He really didn’t know too much about Joshua, he only knew that he’d moved to Nerne because of the anti-magic law that had been passed.

 

Brand didn’t know all too much.

And he’d been surprised, and worried, when he realized he’d fallen in love with Joshua.

 

\--

 

It had been odd waking up to Joshua standing over him, signature green coat – seriously wasn’t it too warm in Nerne? Especially with that brown fur, was it fur? – and all.

Joshua bumped his head gently with his staff and smiled slightly.

~~and holy shit did Bran love his smile~~

“I thought you should be tending to sheep, not sleeping here.”

Stretching with a yawn Bran had sat up, looking bleary-eyed at his friend.

“I was, I was! The shade here is just too good to pass up.”

 

Joshua shook his head and took a seat beside him, setting his staff beside him and looking out over the field.

   They’d said nothing and Bran hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep until he woke to Joshua’s cold hands on his face.

~~Laughing like the ass he was when Bran jumped~~

He also hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep on his friends lap until later.

 

\--

 

The first time he kissed Joshua the other had been asleep.

Under the shaded tree that Bran usually slept under during the day the white haired settler had been oblivious to Bran.

 

The freckled farm boy had watched for a few moments, chewing his lip and letting the idea jump around him his head. He was still getting over the small shock of actually ~~loving~~ liking Joshua.

But he basically said ‘fuck it’ and nervously leaned down and pressed a small kiss to the sleeping others mouth. Pulling back quickly with a flushed face.

 

Joshua work a few moments later, questioning why Bran’s face was so red, oblivious to the fact his closest friend had kissed him.

 

“It’s hot what do you expect!”

 

\--

 

He was ashamed to admit it, but he took advantage of his sleeping friends obliviousness plenty of times. Mumbling confessions he was too scared to actually say or shyly pressing affections to the other when he couldn’t know.

  

Bran always ended up flustered and feeling guilty for the rest of the day.

  

Joshua’s own ‘affections’ had begun to fluster him more and more. The ruffle of his hair, the gentle knocks with his staff, playful teases, the close quarters and of course the lack of care when Bran fell asleep on him.

 

\--

 

The first time they kissed – with both parties awake – was not far into their journey during the winter. Joshua had gotten sick from going out into he raining night before – helping the villagers under the cover of night – and was left bedridden for the next two days.

The villagers had been kind enough to allow them a free stay, since thy were the ones to rid them of their monster problem, so Bran and the girls didn’t need to worry about trying to care for their sick companion while trying to scrounge up money for a stay and medicine.

 

Bran had been sick with worry, staying by Joshua’s bedside as often as possible and making sure the other was as well as possible.

The girls had gone off to gather supplies, leaving their room in the inn to just the boys.

 

Joshua had been stripped of his warm coat as it’s been completely drenched in water and his staff had to be looked at to make sure there was no permanent water damage.

None of them really knew much about the staff but they knew Joshua would be livid if it was damaged.

 

Of course he hadn’t meant to Joshua to wake up when he leaned over his pale friend to kiss him. He’d done so just as he’d done before but hadn’t been expecting to find blue eyes staring back at him when he pulled away.

 

“J-Josh! I-I, I mean, I didn’t-“

He’d barely managed a stuttered apology – hardly that – before Joshua’s hand pulled him back down by the collar for another kiss.

 

“A fool, a fool of a farm brat…” Joshua had mumbled when they’d pulled apart again.

“A fool if you think I wouldn’t notice.”

Bran felt his face go up in flames at Joshua’s teasing remark before he was pulled back down beside his sick friend.

 

Joshua squeezed his shoulder once before mumbling something into his hair, brown locks tangled by gloveless fingers.

 

“Josh, um, I- uh… Well, um…”

“Mm, what is it?”

“I really, really like you…”

Bran’s voice had barely been above a squeak.

And Joshua laughed, strained and sick, ruffling his hair.

 

“And I love you too, Bran.”

**Author's Note:**

> i promise i can write well
> 
> theres like no real context to a lot of the scenes bc i wanna write an actual thing with them ha…


End file.
